Judges and officers shall you appoint for yourself in all your gates (Deut. 16:18)
“In each and every city,” comments Rashi. The Talmud goes even further, explaining that “city” may also be understood to mean the individual person, who is called the “small city.”
In order for a person’s Good Inclination to be victorious and to rule, one must have the assistance of “judges and officers.” The “judge” part of a person’s spiritual make-up first looks into the Shulchan Aruch to see if a certain act is permissible or not according to the Torah. If the Evil Inclination afterwards rears its ugly head and balks at fulfilling G-d’s command, the “officers” come to the rescue to force the individual into compliance. “Man’s Good Inclination must always be in a state of anger against the Evil Inclination,” states the Talmud.
(Lubavitcher Rebbe)
You shall set a king over yourself (Deut. 17:15)
If appointing a king over the Jewish People is a mitzva in the Torah, why then did Samuel the Prophet take the Jews to task when they demanded that he do so? The answer is that the Jews did not want an earthly king because G-d had so commanded; they clamored for a king out of a desire to imitate the nations around them. (Ktav-Sofer)
According to two witnesses...shall a case be established (Deut. 19:15)
The word which the Torah uses here for “case” is “davar,” which alludes to the “dibbur” (speech) of prayer. The “two witnesses” likewise stand for our love and awe of the Almighty. The Torah teaches that our prayers must be uttered with this love and awe in order for them to be worthy and contain substance. (Ohr-Hatorah)
What man is there who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in battle and another man dedicate it (Deut. 20:5)
“And indeed, that would be grievous and sorrowful,” comments Rashi.
Yet why should the fear that another person will dedicate one’s house be even greater than the basic fear of losing one’s life in battle? The inner meaning, according to Rashi, is that when the soldier goes out to wage war, instead of concentrating on his own personal relationship with G-d and doing teshuva, his mind is liable to dwell on his house and the possibility of never returning to it.
